LGBT Fanbases in Live-Action Films.
- 300: Blatant LGBT Fanbase bait.
- If watching 300 doesn't make you long for mansex, you're missing the point entirely.
- The film reviewer from The Advocate called it "the most homoerotic and the most homophobic movie of the year."
- While The Addams Family has always been loved by queer audiences due to its overall message that it's okay to be different, the 1993 film Addams Family Values has developed a cult following in the LGBT community thanks to Joan Cusack's over-the-top performance as villainess Debbie, as well as Christina Ricci taking a more central role as Wednesday.
- A number of classic Golden Age Hollywood films, particularly those starring (or concerning) Bette Davis and Joan Crawford have strong gay fanbases. The two actresses' combination of Old Hollywood glamor, hammy performances, and strong personalities (laced with tragedy in the case of Crawford) inspired a whole generation of Drag Queens and served as role models to Camp Gay men who grew up watching their films.
- All About Eve: Contains a coded gay character in the form of Addison, as well as strong performance from Bette Davis as an actress.
- Mommie Dearest: The film appealed to gay Joan Crawford fans both for the subject material, as well as due to its extreme campiness.
- Sunset Boulevard: Another movie about showbiz featuring a glamorous but vulnerable actress who performs with over-the-top theatricality. The climax of the film, when deluded White-Dwarf Starlet Norma Desmond prepares to perform again, has become iconic.
- Whatever Happened To Baby Jane: Features hammy performances from both Joan Crawford AND Bette Davis. The makeup and looks in the film inspired the visual aesthetic of many a Drag Queen.
- The Babadook gained an LGBT Fanbase almost entirely through Memetic Mutation after Netflix categorized the movie as an LGBT film
◊, leading to the Babadook being adopted as an ironic (but surprisingly strongly embraced) gay icon, especially during 2017's Pride Month, when the meme really took off. - Joel Schumacher's Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, may have been panned by critics and audiences, but they've developed a gay male following due to their "anatomically-correct rubber suits," Chris O'Donnell in the anatomically-correct rubber suits, and Uma Thurman's take on Poison Ivy, which remains a Drag Queen staple to this day.
- The Birdcage, as well as the play it's based on, La Cage aux folles, natch.
- Burlesque has developed its fair share of followers due its cast of Christina Aguilera, Cher, Stanley Tucci and Julianne Hough. The whole film focusing on a burlesque contained with female dancers and some homoerotic subtext towards its female dancers.
- Calamity Jane, which has some Les Yay between the main female characters to the point where it's been been shown at LGBT festivals. The film is about a tomboyish Calamity Jane learning to become more girly with the help of a singer named Katie, but the romance subplot is overshadowed by Jane and Katie's Pseudo-Romantic Friendship. The song "Secret Love" has been interpreted by modern viewers as Jane realizing her love for Katie rather than Bill. This was discussed in The Celluloid Closet.
- Charlie's Angels (2019): The film is popular amongst queer women. Besides the attractive and badass female leads, Sabine is highly indicated to be lesbian or bi. Being played by the openly bisexual Kristen Stewart helps.
- Cloud Atlas has a pretty sizable LGBT fanbase due to the relationship between Robert Frobisher and Rufus Sixsmith. It is also popular with transgender viewers due to the numerous Cross Cast Roles and the involvement of The Wachowskis (both of whom are transgender).
- Some of Dario Argento's films have a pretty strong LGBT following due to their Gender Bender imagery and colorful visual style.
- The DC Extended Universe has quite the LGBT fanbase as well:
- Many LGBT people who'd struggled with their identities in some form expressed a feeling of identifying with Superman's own feelings of loneliness, isolation, and identity issues. It also helps that his actor, Henry Cavill is a Tall, Dark, and Handsome Mr. Fanservice Hunk, an aspect that is appreciated well by gay and bisexual male fans.
- Wonder Woman (2017): It goes without saying that this movie had gay and bisexual women practically swooning, not just over Gal Gadot but the entire island of Themyscira. The plot centers on a gorgeous superheroine who comes from a Lady Land of insanely beautiful badass women who have long since concluded that men are necessary for procreation but "not for pleasure." Do the math. It also helps that actress Elena Anaya, who plays one of the villains, Dr. Poison, is openly gay in real life.
- Birds of Prey (2020), much like Wonder Woman, features a largely-female cast led by the canonically bisexual Harley Quinn, whose story arc involves her finding her own path separate from the Joker after he suddenly breaks up with her. The way Harley and Dinah Lance are both rather appreciative of Huntress adds fuel to the fire. It also helps that Harley's actress, Margot Robbie, has been reported to be really wanting Poison Ivy incorporated into the DCEU.
- Death Becomes Her maintains a significant cult following within the LGBT+ community, to the point where screenings of it are common during Pride Month celebrations. Tom Campbell, the executive producer of RuPaul's Drag Race, states that much of the appeal among LGBT+ audiences lies in the main characters "trying to win a game that's rigged against them" while jumping through the hoops of glamour, something that resonates well with their own plights.
- The Devil Wears Prada: This film has a large fanbase of lesbian and bisexual women, mainly due to a lot of the actresses already having some, especially Meryl Streep. The focus on fashion and Nigel being gay have also led to a large fanbase of gay men.
- Ed Wood has become something of a gay icon since the 1994 Tim Burton movie brought him a modicum of mainstream acknowledgment. Not only are his films as camp as twelve tents, making them the definitive So Bad, It's Good viewing experiences, but many of them feature largely sympathetic (if dated) portrayals of cross-dressers, which resonates both with actual cross-dressers and generally feminine men.
- The 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters developed quite a solid lesbian fanbase. This is thanks in large part to Ensemble Dark Horse Jillian Holtzmann who, although not actually identified as such, is played by an openly gay actress. Word of God also claims that the character was intended to be openly identified as such in the film, but studio pressure required the makers to make it (slightly) more subtle. In addition to this, the character of Erin Gilbert also has a backstory which strikes a chord with the LGBT community, being someone who was forced to conceal a vital part of their identity and try to pass as 'normal' from an early age due to parental and societal pressure and was bullied and outcast due to this, leading to numerous issues with fitting in as an adult note .
- The Greatest Showman has a strong LGBT following for multiple reasons: 1. Its four leads, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, and Zendaya, are all well-regarded in the community; 2. The movie's subplot about the circus freaks taking pride in the things that make them different resonated strongly for obvious reasons; 3. Most importantly, its Signature Song "This Is Me" has become a battle hymn for the LGBT community and was the unofficial Pride anthem of 2018. In some cities it was the official anthem/slogan for Pride that year.
- Jennifer's Body: Despite Jennifer and Needy's relationship being described (not entirely inaccurately) as queerbait, especially the scene where they make out for no apparent reason, this film has a rather large following among queer women. The film's iffy use of the Depraved Bisexual trope is fully acknowledged, but the general attitude is, "It's schlock, but it's our schlock" (similar to how some queer fans view the older and even campier movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show).
- M3GAN gained one from the moment the first trailer was released, which introduced the titular Robot Girl villain wearing a pair of Cool Shades and showed her doing a dance that quickly went viral. In the actual film, her personality becomes increasingly sassy as she gains sentience, and her relationship with Cady, a young girl who recently lost her parents and is now being cared for by an aunt who's not cut out for the job, brought in themes of Found Family that resonated with a lot of queer fans, even if M3GAN is the villain here. Saturday Night Live even spoofed her following among gay men by having the sequel blatantly pander to them, making her a Fag Hag who hangs out at a gay bar.
- Mamma Mia! and its sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again have a solid gay following, which makes sense — they're campy musicals, and the music is all by ABBA, who have a gay following of their own. When Here We Go Again came out, it was often joked online that the main audience would be "gay people and their middle-aged moms."
- The Matrix series, though particularly the first film, has garnered something of a following among transgender viewers with many claiming what Neo (Keanu Reeves) and many of the redpills experience upon learning the truth about the world they lived in heavily resonates with how many transgender people feel while transitioning. Given that the franchise's creators, The Wachowskis, both later came out as trans women themselves, the film's transgender subtext starts to make sense. The transgender allegory was later confirmed by co-creator Lilly Wachowski. It may or may not be a coincidence that, at the time that the film was made, one of the most commonly-prescribed brands of pharmaceutical female hormone, estradiol, came as a red pill...
- While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is popular with viewers of all orientations, certain characters and works in particular attract an especially strong queer following:
- The Captain America trilogy's massive gay/bi following (especially fans of Bara Genre works) reached mainstream levels of infamy during its time due to the films' focus on the intense and homoerotic bonds between the titular character and the men in his life, several of whom play the role of The Not-Love Interest to the point that his actual love interests seem to fall to the wayside. Bucky Barnes in particular has undergone Memetic Mutation into the latest Disney princess. The films' homoeroticism played an important role in kickstarting ongoing debates regarding the MCU's (as well as Hollywood's) lack of canonical LGBT representation that continue to this day.
- Thor: Ragnarok is famously beloved, and memetically known as a film made for bisexuals because of Valkyrie and Loki being canonically bi themselves (and Grandmaster being implied to be pansexual), Hela and Grandmaster being incredibly flamboyant antagonists, and the entire cast, regardless of gender, being ridiculously attractive. Thor also has a reputation as lesbian ally for being hypermasculine but kind and respectful to women, while Loki's backstory as a secret Frost Giant raised to believe he was an Asgardian and who is looked down upon for embracing "feminine" skills like magic and cunning over brute strength makes him popular with trans fans, furthered when Loki (2021) describes him as genderfluid.
- Captain Marvel (2019) is beloved among lesbian/bisexual women for similar reasons as the Captain America films and is often seen as their Distaff Counterpart due to the Les Yay-filled relationship between Carol and her best friend Maria Rambeau serving as its emotional heart, coupled with the absence of any male love interests to get in the way.
- Wanda Maximoff as a character came in with a LGBT fanbase from the comics stemming from both being a mutant (the X-men themselves well-known as allegory for being LGBT) and as the mother of two of the most prominent LGBT superheroes, Billy/Wiccan and Tommy/Speed. Her insecurities about being feared and hated for reasons beyond her control before learning to embrace those aspects as one of her strengths, one of the well-known forms of Rainbow Lens, also carried over to the films.
- The Captain America trilogy's massive gay/bi following (especially fans of Bara Genre works) reached mainstream levels of infamy during its time due to the films' focus on the intense and homoerotic bonds between the titular character and the men in his life, several of whom play the role of The Not-Love Interest to the point that his actual love interests seem to fall to the wayside. Bucky Barnes in particular has undergone Memetic Mutation into the latest Disney princess
- Thanks to The Rocky Horror Picture Show being one of the first mainstream films to tackle LGBTQIA+ themes, it's maintained a devoted following of LGBT fans to this day, even as its depictions grow increasingly outdated. It also helps that the creator of the Rocky Horror brand, Richard O'Brien, identifies as nonbinary.
- Sherlock Holmes: Holmes and Watson. Most prevalent in the 2009 film where the homoerotic angle was purposefully pushed.Jude Law [Watson]: I knew enough about Sherlock Holmes to know that there was a lot of unchartered material. I knew [Downey's casting] was going to be something exciting, and therefore the project was going to be something exciting. And as soon as I met him, we got on very well - which is a good sign - and we both agreed that we wanted to really make this a piece about the relationship between Watson and Holmes.Robert Downey Jr.. [Holmes]: I think the word bromance is so passe. We are two men who happen to be roommates who wrestle a lot and share a bed.
- Showgirls has become a gay favorite due to its sexuality and So Bad, It's Good campiness. Shadowcasts and parodies of the movie by Drag Queens are common and are an annual event at the Castro Theatre, capital of San Francisco's Gayborhood.
- While it was roundly condemned by most LGBT groups on release for its flawed portrayal of transsexuality, The Silence of the Lambs is still appreciated by parts of the lesbian community because of Jodie Foster having since come out as a lesbian and their identification with Clarice's struggles in a violent, male-dominated world.
- The Slasher Movie genre has always been popular with gay men, not just for the camp value, but mainly because they often subconsciously identify with the hero/heroine, usually the Final Girl, overcoming evil with smarts and strength, and the transformation they have to go through as a character often resonating with gay viewers. Some also find subtext in the sexual repression typically found in the Final Girl.
- The Scream franchise particularly stands out for its gay male following. This is usually attributed to its slightly campy tone, snarky dialogue, the theatricality of the killers (especially in their dramatic speeches after their unmaskings), the fact that anyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, can be said killer, and writer/creator Kevin Williamson being openly gay himself. The first film also has heavy homoerotic undertones between Billy and Stu; they were inspired by the famously gay Leopold and Loeb killers. One LGBT site even named Ghostface the queerest horror movie villain.
- The Scream franchise particularly stands out for its gay male following. This is usually attributed to its slightly campy tone, snarky dialogue, the theatricality of the killers (especially in their dramatic speeches after their unmaskings), the fact that anyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, can be said killer, and writer/creator Kevin Williamson being openly gay himself. The first film also has heavy homoerotic undertones between Billy and Stu; they were inspired by the famously gay Leopold and Loeb killers. One LGBT site
- The Terminator franchise in general got quite a strong lesbian fanbase, due almost entirely to Linda Hamilton's powerful performance and muscular, androgynous appearance in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which made her something of a sex symbol for Butch Lesbians and women who appreciate them.
- The Wizard of Oz is a classic example, heavily contributing to Judy Garland's own LGBT fanbase. Many in the gay community could relate to Dorothy's longing of escape to a better place, "some place where there isn't any trouble." Dorothy's acceptance of the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion also struck a chord among many gay men who felt confident that Dorothy would also accept them in open arms without a second thought. ("Friend of Dorothy" even became an euphemism for a gay man). The Wizard and Glinda also don't try to solve or "cure" the characters' problems, and instead pointing out that they had what they wanted all along. All of this heavily resonated with an early LGBT audience, and the fact that film provided heavy camp on top of that only sealed the deal.
- The Women was another early film popular with gay men, in part because director George Cukor was gay himself, and also because of the campy female performances, particularly from Joan Crawford (herself a classic gay icon). Gender studies theorist David M. Halperin once noted that the film would be shown at the Castro movie theater in San Francisco, and "The audience would be full of gay men who knew the movie by heart and who would recite the lines out loud in unison with each other and the actresses."
- Xanadu: A campy Disco musical. How much gayer can you get? The film's gay and female fanbase pushes it out of flop territory and into Cult Classic.
- The X-Men Film Series, for reasons similar to the comic book as well as the involvement of gay actor Ian McKellen and bisexual director Bryan Singer. Elliot Page publicly coming out in 2014 also helped boost LGBT interest in X-Men: Days of Future Past, even though his character was Demoted to Extra.
